While learning and refining their skills, most photographers progress through three distinct phases in their development. The first phase occurs immediately after they get their first “good” camera and discover the medium’s potential for fun and creativity. During this time, novice shooters enthusiastically photographically explore their world and every memory card is chock full of files that contains images that look so much better...

Experiment. Don’t go out with preconceptions of what a picture will look like. That will block you from being receptive to something new and exciting. – Mason Resnick What my friend Mason was saying applies to all kinds of photography, including portraiture or glamour where it’s all too easy to set a subject on a posing stool and place them in “Pose A”, then move then into “Pose B,” making the whole process so mechanical even...

Guest Post by Jason Anderson, Canon Blogger There’s an age old axiom that says you truly are not an expert or well-versed in any field until you’ve practiced it for 10,000 hours. Think about that number. Ten thousand! That sounds pretty daunting. It means taking a lot of photos to get to that level. Let’s just assume for a minute that in photography, 10,000 hours = 10,000 photos. That would still take a lot of...

Photographers seem to be of two minds about filters: Purists don’t like them because they abhor anything coming between reality and the captured image. Filter fans worry less about resolution charts and just like to have fun with their photography, which regular readers know is one of the mottoes of this blog. When buying filters there is one overriding concern that should be followed: Don’t put a $19.95 filter on a $1,000 lens. You...

If you’ve been to a movie in the past few years, you’ve seen examples of blue or green screen photography, even if you were unaware of it at the time. Blue or green screen photography is just one of the techniques that are used to show Transformers stomping LA’s skyline into the dust but each night’s weather forecast includes a meteorologist standing in front of a blue background while an animated map of the country is seamlessly...

Your digital camera’s optional Scene modes, includes lots of different options, including Night Scene Mode that’s been designed for taking photos of people using the camera’s built-in flash to illuminate them while a slow shutter speed opens up detail and color in the background. When making a portrait in front of a cityscape or sunset using any one of the other camera exposure modes that are available, the foreground or the...